Paper for Groundwork Collaborative: full version here. Executive Summary As the country crests the most devastating wave yet of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is growing optimism that the new administration will act quickly to stem the economic crisis: both by deploying the federal government’s leadership to control the pandemic itself and by using the federal…
Tag: recession
Incentives and Austerity: How Did the Great Recession Affect Municipal Economic Development Policy?
How did the recession affect the more entrepreneurial functions of the local state? Economic development was one of few areas of discretionary spending that local governments could cut or defer in response to mid-budget cycle revenue shortfalls. Did cities maintain or alter their approach to facilitating private development in the years following the crisis?
How is this recession different from all other recessions?
I spoke with an sfgate.com reporter recently about how the COVID-19 crisis could impact Bay Area local governments. As always, there is a lot I said that didn’t make it into the article so here’s a bit longer ramble. I’m working on updating the numbers and data underlying these thoughts, so this is just some…
SFGate: ‘San Francisco is particularly vulnerable’: Expert explains how COVID-19 may hurt city budgets
“In every recession, it’s true that you’re losing revenue at the same time as you want to be able to spend more money,” Hinkley says. “Counties and cities have to be spending more on public health, on housing people, on emergency equipment, on ensuring that people are staying at home. It’s difficult to manage spending…
The Great Recession, Families, and the Safety Net
The Great Recession caused significant hardship for many U.S. families. Safety net programs—some of which were expanded during the recession and its recovery—mitigated some of the worst effects, but were not available to all households and were insufficient to compensate for the depth of the downturn. What can policymakers learn from the adequacy of the…